The battlefield fell completely silent just as the body of the Dark Lord hit the hard ground.
Aaric had deliberately taken his time with Voldemort. He did this so Simon, Edwina, his girls, and his friends would have enough time to capture or kill the entirety of Voldemort's army.
Aaric landed softly on the ground just as the last of the stragglers were being bound.
"Did any of them escape?" Aaric asked his father.
Simon responded with a firm shake of his head. By now, most of the Acromantulas were dead, and the rest were entirely subdued.
The giants who had sided with Voldemort were completely wiped out, alongside most of the other dark creatures and abominations that had pledged their loyalty to the dead Dark Lord.
Aaric glanced to the side and saw a severed head dangling loosely from Norberta's massive jaws. It looked very much like it belonged to Fenrir Greyback.
"Finish your food. Do not be a nasty girl," Hagrid ordered loudly.
The dragon swallowed the head in one massive bite before laying down on the dirt. She immediately started licking her scales, cleaning all the blood and gore smeared all over her body.
Aaric looked toward the headmaster, the teachers, and the students of his school. They were all staring at him with a million questions resting on their tongues.
"One week from now, an article will be published in The Quibbler. It will answer some of your questions," Aaric said out loud to the gathered crowd. He teleported away the very next instant.
Aaric's family and friends did exactly the same, reappearing moments later on the grounds of Nightshade Island.
"Now what?" Astoria muttered out loud.
"Now everyone cleans up the mess left behind while we help from the shadows," Simon said with a casual shrug.
He teleported away to his private study without another word. The Lord of House Hawthorne had numerous people to assign to various urgent tasks.
In the following days, the Delacours, the Malfoys, and the other prominent families associated with Aaric completely refused to comment on anything regarding the young man or his hidden secrets, allowing the magical society to begin recovering in peace.
It seemed that before arriving at Hogwarts, Voldemort had visited the Ministry of Magic and had done some bloody cleaning up himself.
The Minister, his toad, and some other supporters were found dead. They were killed by Voldemort himself because his loyal supporter Lucius Malfoy had convinced the Dark Lord they were secret traitors.
The British magical society would have fallen into absolute chaos if not for the timely intervention of allies from other magical societies around the globe, who had arrived to help at the direct request of the Hawthorne Foundation.
Four days after the grand battle at Hogwarts.
Aaric floated serenely in front of the Dark Island. His hand was outstretched as the seven Daemons stood silently beside him in the air.
With a single wave of the boy's hand, the entire landmass detached itself from the earth. The massive island moved upward into the sky, hovering exactly one kilometer above the rolling waves.
The displacement of such a colossal landmass did not cause a single ripple in the ocean below, because in place of the floating island there was now a completely barren and sandy landmass.
"Give life to this land while I continue my work," Aaric ordered the seven Daemons. They immediately started doing exactly as they were told.
Aaric teleported high above Nightshade. He had the whole Dark Island floating effortlessly beside him, and he saw that the preparations below were completely finished.
Luxarion, who had grown to the impressive size of an elephant, flew in front of Aaric with deep reluctance shining in his molten gold eyes.
"You do not wish to go to the next world?" Aaric asked the dragon gently.
"I wish to go," Luxarion responded.
Gold dragons were beings of evolving philosophy and ancient wisdom. Luxarion was genuinely excited to move to a more flawed world because he knew the transition would challenge his mind and help him find his true place in existence.
"I just do not wish to be away from you for a thousand years," the gold dragon admitted, flying a bit closer to Aaric.
"Then you can stay," Aaric said with an understanding shake of his head. "I gave this option to everyone on the island, and that includes you."
Aaric raised his hand to gently caress the dragon's scaled head. "You do not need to do anything you do not wish to." Aaric encouraged him in a soothing tone.
"How long before you will be moving the island?" Luxarion asked after taking a long moment of thought.
"An hour or so," Aaric answered.
The gold dragon nodded before laying down comfortably on a soft cloud beside Aaric. He watched as the boy seamlessly merged the Dark Island together with Nightshade Island.
Aaric then took the rest of his free time observing the various creatures of the newly joined island as they began to mingle and settle into their expanded home.
He did not just have to teleport the physical beings on the island itself, but he also had to account for some magical creatures swimming around the island that were technically a fundamental part of the ecosystem.
After the hour finally ended, the seven Daemons had finished their assigned work and had teleported back to their tall towers in Nightshade.
Aaric observed that the stone towers were now glowing brightly with ancient runes, pulsing with every single type of observation magic the Daemons knew.
It seemed the Daemons wished to observe exactly how Aaric would teleport the island, hoping to learn as much as they possibly could from the event.
Aaric nodded in approval. He genuinely liked the initiative the Daemons were showing.
The boy then looked over to the side where Luxarion sat. The golden dragon was looking at Aaric intently, as if committing his face to memory.
The dragon flapped his powerful wings, moving closer to Aaric before affectionately nuzzling him with his snout.
No more words were exchanged between the two friends as the dragon swooped back down to the island and entered his personal lair. His final decision was made.
Aaric nodded with a warm smile before raising both of his hands. Pure divine energy poured out in massive waves from his body.
His skill had perfectly made the necessary calculations a long time ago. With Aaric's final confirmation, the lush, magical island floating in front of him vanished entirely.
It was instantly replaced with a barren, lifeless landmass surrounded by the vast ocean.
Aaric placed a hand into his pocket, took out a single small seed, and threw it down toward the barren lands below before teleporting away to his mansion.
There he found his parents, his girls, their families, and his close friends sitting comfortably together on a large circular couch.
"So we can visit you whenever we want?" Harry was asking the question when Aaric had arrived.
The Hawthornes had told everyone they would be leaving a permanent opening inside the mansion.
It was an opening that would perfectly connect the mansion directly to their castle in Nightshade.
"Yes," Aaric said as he walked over and took a seat among them.
Aaric's simple answer brought immense relief to the families of Luna, Daphne, and Fleur. They all knew the girls would be leaving this world with Aaric, and the connection meant they would not be separated forever.
"What will we do in the new world if we wish to go with you?" Draco asked, resting a hand thoughtfully on his chin.
"Whatever you want," Aaric answered with an easy shrug. "You can just claim an empty island and build a palace there to live in. Or you can just stay on my island. Or you could even gain power in the new world."
Draco nodded slowly, fully getting the idea of what Aaric was offering.
It took about an hour for everyone present to make their final decisions. The families of Daphne, Luna, and Fleur would be staying behind in the wizarding world, but they promised to visit regularly.
Harry wished to stay on Earth until his graduation as well. Draco and Astoria, on the other hand, wished to move to the next world.
Elder Huo stated he wished to stay on Earth for some years as well.
"And what of your graduation from Hogwarts?" Selene asked her daughter, before immediately realizing how incredibly silly her question was.
There was absolutely nothing Hogwarts could teach Astoria at this point, as her power and understanding were now frankly far beyond the school's curriculum.
So, Astoria did not even bother to answer her mother's question. She just responded by lovingly placing her head on her mother's shoulder.
Seven days passed since the battle.
The wizarding world waited with bated breath for a publication they usually considered utter rubbish, simply because that very newspaper now held the answers to the countless questions plaguing them for the past week.
The main article on the first page of the newspaper was titled 'The Answers'. It contained an exclusive interview between Xenophilius Lovegood and Aaric Hawthorne.
The long article could basically be summed up with one clear message. The secret to their incredible strength was the Hawthorne family's alone to tell, and they would not be disclosing those secrets to anyone.
Aaric had also formally announced that he and his family would be moving far away from the public spotlight and significantly lessening their contact with the wizarding world.
The article was so incredibly disappointing to the general public that readers frantically rummaged through the rest of the newspaper just to get a sliver of useful information.
The people's desperate rummaging through the pages made them aware of two groundbreaking research projects being conducted by Elder Huo and Cassian Rowle.
One project provided a clear pathway to peaceful integration with the muggle world, while the other project challenged the magical community to look up toward the vast night sky.
A/n: I know I left a lot of loose ends in the HP world. So, I will occasionally add side chapter on the HP world to just show the progress a little bit. Next few chapters will conclude Ra's adventured in Westeros and the next we see Aaric he will be in the asoiaf world.